Is is just me or are these outfits increasingly designed to hide the wearers identity. It also makes it hard for the officer to communicate with the public increasing the risk of confrontation and violence.

FTFA: The robocop suit weighs 22lb and is flame resistant to up to 427C. The National Post also made the comparison between the gear worn by Rio police and the most recent Robocop movie. In reality, the Rio robocops look far more intimidating than the character played by Joel Kinnaman.

jamspoon:Is is just me or are these outfits increasingly designed to hide the wearers identity. It also makes it hard for the officer to communicate with the public increasing the risk of confrontation and violence.

I don't think a drug lord with an AK-47 is going to worry too much about identifying and communicating with the police.

A: Infowars? Really? Ugh. I'm about as libertarian as they come, but Alex Jones is a certified nutjob.

B: Sooo...a SWAT team looks exactly like a SWAT team? This is a story?

C: Yes the militarization of police worldwide and in the US is an increasing problem. But there is a niche need to SWAT teams that isn't going away. And those teams pretty much do need to have that gear and weapons to do their job. The real problem is twofold. The increasing use of SWAT teams for jobs that don't really need them, and the militarization of regular patrol officers. I get having a go bag in the trunk with some tactical gear for immediate response to active shooter scenarios, and I get having a patrol rifle in the car like an AR-15. But the average office is likely to encounter a real need to pull that stuff out a handful of times over his entire career. It's very distressing that more and more officers are going the "tacticool" route for regular patrols.

Mouser:jamspoon: Is is just me or are these outfits increasingly designed to hide the wearers identity. It also makes it hard for the officer to communicate with the public increasing the risk of confrontation and violence.

I don't think a drug lord with an AK-47 is going to worry too much about identifying and communicating with the police.

Actually, they are. This trend started in Asia where drug lords started going after the families of special police units and kidnapping, torturing, killing etc in reprisal for enforcement activities. Same in Mexico.

That spread PDQ to radical Islamists and is the reason Paki SF units took to wearing balaclavas and not showing their faces in the news, so as to avoid going ro work and coming home to fresh wife-and-child salad.

Now its a bit of a trend around the world where gangs and law enforcement are a little more evenly matched than we are used to.

skinink:Why they insist on holding tournaments for the world's most popular sports in the worst places is confusing.

Oh, they do it t because of bribes. Nevermind.

My honest to God take on this?The extreme opposite.

It's to dangle the possibility of growth in jobs and infrastructure for a country, then every once in a while threaten to pull the games whenever you want that country to make certain political decisions.

See South Africa, Brazil and Qatar as recent examples.

/"that's a nice stimulus program you've got going there...would be a shame if something would happen to it"//not saying there aren't bribes///olé, olé olé ooolé

I was doing the tourist thing in Nepal a few years back right around the anniversary of China eating Tibet.

Nepal is VERY sensitive about this, being a tiny little country wedged between the hammer of China and the anvil of India, and having a big Tibetan ex-pat population. So there was a huge police presence at all the Buddhist holy sites. You'd be wandering around a stupa and happen upon a bunch of guys decked out in camo chilling out with riot shields and automatic rifles.

taurusowner:A: Infowars? Really? Ugh. I'm about as libertarian as they come, but Alex Jones is a certified nutjob.

B: Sooo...a SWAT team looks exactly like a SWAT team? This is a story?

C: Yes the militarization of police worldwide and in the US is an increasing problem. But there is a niche need to SWAT teams that isn't going away. And those teams pretty much do need to have that gear and weapons to do their job. The real problem is twofold. The increasing use of SWAT teams for jobs that don't really need them, and the militarization of regular patrol officers. I get having a go bag in the trunk with some tactical gear for immediate response to active shooter scenarios, and I get having a patrol rifle in the car like an AR-15. But the average office is likely to encounter a real need to pull that stuff out a handful of times over his entire career. It's very distressing that more and more officers are going the "tacticool" route for regular patrols.

\Current military\\And current police officer

I like it. At least now their contempt for the populace is on open display. I've had very little luck with the police, in spite of always being polite and respectful. Whether calling on them for help, encountering a cop randomly on the street or being pulled over. I'm having a hard time figuring out what it is they are supposed to be doing for me. I've called for vandalized property, they showed up at the wrong address. I was assaulted with a weapon, they did nothing except run my license and question me about my brother's concealed carry permit (came up in the search). I asked for directions and was scoffed at. I've never received the follow up calls they promise to make. I am trying to think of a time that interacting with the police had a positive result and I am coming up blank. In addition to being ineffectual, they've always made a point of ordering me around, lecturing me or otherwise talking down to me.

This is in multiple cities and states. I'm in my late 30s and have a white-collar office job. I don't have any visible tattoos. I am a white male. I've never sassed or smarted off to a cop in my life.

Maybe if the cops looked scarier somebody would start asking questions and make some reforms.